The present invention relates to an instrument and method for the observation of point defects, impure atoms and their clusters which exist at joint interfaces and contacts in an integrated device formed into a layered structure such as a memory or fast-calculation device.
As described in Proc. Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Vol. 183 (Materials Research Society, San Francisco, 1990) p. 55, the conventional electron microscope can be used for inferring a 3-dimensional atomic arrangement from several electron microscope images observed from different directions. In addition, a technique for obtaining a 2-dimensional image of a 3-dimensional atomic structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 61-78041.